[NSRCA-discussion] New FAI Rule Changes

[Atwood, Mark]

The difference is perspective. Most of us learned early in our Pattern career when doing a half reversed cube and eight that you needed to show a steeper line then what appeared to be 45° because at the end of the box an actual 45° line appears to be steeper, the human eye is very well trained at looking at an a circle on the end and recognizing its oblique shape. But if we now need to fly, geometrically accurate shapes from the judges perspective, it can no longer be the oblique circle, but rather a true circle
But as Jason said, I don’t think Annie will do this, and I don’t expect to see actual changes to accommodate this wording .

A more stark example would be a half 8 sided loop at the End  of the box. True geometry relative to the plane you were flying would have a 45 downline a vertical down line another 45 down line all of equal lengths, but with the 45 lines appearing to be steeper than 45° relative to the ground. If we fly it geometrically accurate from the judges perspective those 45° lines will need to be shallower than an actual 45 and will therefore be much longer than the vertical line. Timing and rhythm would be pretty messed up I think.
Again, I don’t think anyone will actually do this.
Lastly, I don’t know how anyone will accurately geometrically represent a rolling circle in the Z axis, and have it appear round from the judges perspective, unless it is much more of a loop.

On Apr 5, 2023, at 5:21 PM, Phil Spelt via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> wrote:


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Guys,  These days I am an SPA contestant, but I have flown and judged the turnaround sequences years ago.  (I didn't have the finances to buy $2K to $5K composite airframes and double-reverse contra double rotating props to be competitive.)  So I am kind of familiar with the current AMA pattern milieu, and have judged a lot.  Can someone please explain to me how pilots and judges, sitting at the center of the flight line, can tell the difference between a 1/2 loop at an end of the box that is geometrically round or just "looks" round?  We see what we see -- if it looks round score it well, if it doesn't, mark it down -- no?
Thanks,

“You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.” ― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest.
Phil Spelt, AMA 1294, Scientific Leader Member
SPA L-18, Board Member, NSRCA 2032, KCRC Emeritus
Knoxville, TN  37931   (865) 604-0541c

On 04/05/2023 11:57 AM Mark Atwood via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org<mailto:nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>> wrote:


Hey All,

Attached are the results from the CIAM plenary meeting and vote that took place on April 1st. These rule changes will go into effect in 2024. Most of the rules that address F3A are minor and merely clarify clerical issues in the rulebook or help outline procedures. There are also changes to the wording around telemetry, but again, only for better clarity. But there are TWO notable rule changes. Neither of which we supported.

1) Increase the weight limit to 5.5Kg TAKE OFF WEIGHT. This is a straight up increase for electric, and a change to weighing procedure for glow planes to include FULL tank of fuel. The issues here are obvious and I know we have many on both sides of this discussion, but it’s the new rule in FAI.

2) This one confounds me. They have changed the judging guidelines, such that they no longer want accurate geometry relative to the aircrafts plane of flight, but instead want geometric accuracy FROM THE JUDGES PERSPECITVE. In other words, a half loop at the end of the box needs to LOOK round, rather than BE round relative to the plane of flight. It completely changes our way of flying and makes tools like flight coach useless.

Personally, I can’t imagine this will last, and more over I can’t imagine this will actually be used. A few of us (US/ UK / AUS) fought hard against it, but in the end it won out. They had no explanation as to how cross box maneuvers will accomplish this (such as a rolling circle) but insisted this is what was wanted. I’m sure there will be much discussion at events prior to this going into effect.

There were also some minor changes for how ties are handled and better language and procedure for handling smaller championship events (<40 pilots). But most of that is benign.


F3A Starts on page 25

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